Thought for Tuesday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’s bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,”
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small,
put on sackcloth.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth
and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive,
and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.”
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.

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Today we have the continuation of the story of Jonah. God obviously got Jonah’s attention with the whale and he was ready to take on the mission. He was charged with preaching in Nineveh, an extremely large city that took three days to walk through it.

Almost immediately upon hearing Jonah’s message that Nineveh would be destroyed if they did not repent, the whole city, led by the king, began to fast and pray. God saw the response of the people and did not destroy Nineveh. We should not be surprised at this response. When we follow God’s will, amazing things can happen.

This mission that was given to Jonah seemed impossible, but “all things are possible with God.” (Matthew 19:26) We may look around our world and think that it is impossible for us to turn back to God. There is violence, war, terrorism, lack of respect for God and others. Where will this end? May our hearts echo the words of Jesus, “all things are possible with God.”

But what it will take is each of us doing the will of God, who is calling each of us to use our gifts and talents to make a positive change in our respective environments. Some of us run away from God’s call like Jonah because we do not trust God enough. Remember that His grace is sufficient and He will never abandon you. God will always be with you to complete the task He has called you to do.

Do I have faith that God can do anything?

What talents do I have that God can use to effect positive change in the world?

Am I intentional about bringing Christ into my home and each environment in which I find myself?

May we follow the example of Jonah and do the will of God. Lord, increase our trust and faith in you.